h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Dear Mr. Adams,

I read all five parts of the Hitchhiker, and I love the way you wrote them.
I searched something other in this lovely style and bought the "Starship Titanic".
Unfortunately, all book stores here in Göttingen and around have only the
Hitchhiker-books present so I had to order the Titanic. And found that it is written
in a very different style, sadly.

Cause I can't go to shop, read a few pages of a book and buy it if I like it
(if I order them I must buy them ), I'd be happy to hear from you which of
your books are written in a hitchhiker-like style - strange sentences you have to
read twice before you understand, and all these lovely things.

Can you help?

With kindly regards,
Yours Cooper

First things first Cooper, Douglas Adams did not write "Starship Titanic" (even though i thought it was a very good book). Terry Jones did. But about the other problem, I'm not really sure how I can help. His Dirk Gently (see name) books are good, but I'm not sure if there in "Hitchhiker-style." And I'm not sure what else.
Sorry,
Dirk Gently

Sub-Editor
ACE

Douglas hasn't written 8 books and one short story.

Five of them are hitchhiker books, two are Dirk Gently books, and the final one is the non fiction book Last Chance to See

They are all written in Douglas' style... for more information on these and other things he's done see either http://www.floor42.com or http://www.douglasadams.com

Er that should have been 'has written'

Didn't he also co-write a book called "The Meaning
of Liff"? It seems to me he also did some other
books, too (perhaps as co-author). I didn't know
Starship Titanic was a book; I know it as a video
game. I think DNA was more directly involved in
the game than the book.

If you're looking for something similar in style to
DNA, may I suggest some other authors? I
recently started reading a series of books by a
guy called Lionel Fenn about a character called
Kent Montana, who is supposed to be descended
from Scottish nobility, and is an out-of-work actor
(any relation to Ford?), who seems to keep getting
involved in real-life monster-movie-type plots. The
writing style reminds me of Douglas Adams. The
first book in the series is called "Kent Montana and
the Really Ugly Thing from Mars". I got these books
from a website called 1bookstreet.com, really cheap.
(I try to buy all my books at a bargain price, because
I buy so many!)

Also you might try "Neverwhere" by Neil Gaiman. One
of the reviewers quoted on my copy compared him to
Douglas Adams. I understand that this story was also
a television programme in England, and they're making
a movie of it. (Another coincidence?) Neil Gaiman is
probably best known for his Sandman comic books,
which with I am almost entirely unfamiliar, except that
I've heard of them, and I think their style is different, and
their tone is dark.

There is also a wonderful book by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman called "Good Omens"

According to the New York Times, the book is "A direct descendant of 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.'"

I loved it so much I haven't given it back to the person I 'borrowed' it from a year ago, andbelieve me, she's not getting it back anytime soon.

Hope that helps.

Triv

Hmmm, a "direct descendent"...? It would have had to go through some pretty circuitous heredity lines. I didn't think the style of Good Omens resembled anything like Douglas Adams Hitchhiker books. In fact, it hardly resembles Terry Pratchett's style, in that it is a collaboration. It is, however, a fantastic book in its own right, and it stands alone (not part of a series). I would imagine for people such as Pratchett and Gaimen, who have very singular writing styles, to collaborate and come up with such a stunning piece of literature would be hard. But fortunately for book lovers everywhere, they pulled it off.

BTW, the Dirk Gently books are titled: "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency" and "The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul". You should probably read them in that order, but it doesn't really matter it you don't.

And DNA did work on "The Meaning of Liff" and "The Deeper Meaning of Liff" with John Lloyd

Good Omens (which if rumors are correct have Terry Gilliam working on a screenplay for a film version) is very similar to HHGTTG in terms of style of humor. It doesn't meander and have amusing asides as HHGTTG though.

While we could get into a pointless debate about writing styles, let me just say that when I saw the title of this thread, Good Omens immediately lept to mind.

Another good humorous sci-fi author is Robert Sheckley. His full-length novels aren't very funny, but if you get your hands on his collected short stories, as well as "Bring Me the Head of Prince Charming," (co-written with Roger Zelany [sp?]) those are quite amusing. I'd equate them to a higher-brow form of Monty Python, in that he'll make a universe with something unusual in it, and carry it out to its logical end.

Wampus

Having just read DNA's page regarding the explosion of the web and information disemination I highly recommend "Ender's Game" which I believe is by Orson Scott Card. A vivid discription of virtual realities long before they became actualities.

While no one can match the sheer brilliance of Douglas Adams, Grant Naylor does a fine job with the Red Dwarf books. The first is 'Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers.' Don't bother with any other authors, however, until you have read both Dirk Gently books and the wonderful non-fiction work Last Chance to See. Douglas Adams is beyond compare.

A book that I think fans of "The Hitchhikers Guide" would like is "Night of the Avenging Blowfish" by John Welter. It has a great combination of modern day ordinary things mixed together by some very un-ordinary viewpoints.

Almost everyone I know who has read it says they loved it, except for a few who thought it was stupid. Those same few also thought "Hitchhikers" was stupid, hence my recommendation of it to all of you.

Enjoy, Kirk

Kirk.
Kirk Wagner.
James Wagner.
James Kirk... I get it.

I'm new here myself and making a point of saying hello to as many newcomers as I can. As you've probably discovered by now this is an amazing site but it has so many rabbit-holes it's hard to follow anyone or anything very far... This DNA string was almost abandoned since last May. Or was it?
That's why, for example, your loving description of WW2 warplanes in Maryland sat without response for six days! Some of these people are a bit stuffy...

I shouldn't have changed the subject in this thread should I... Oh I can hear the Peer Pressure Review Board fuming already...Jeeez.

Are the "Red Dwarf" books based on the TV
programme? And are they new stories, or ones
from the show? Or is it the other way around,
and someone actually wrote "Red Dwarf" as books
first?

Not to change the subject, but (since I did, anyway)
does anyone know where I can get videos of "Red
Dwarf"? The station that carries it here is hard to
tune in. It doesn't have to be in any particular format
(like VHS or PAL), because I think I know where to
get a video player to play whatever format it already
comes in.

They're based very roughly on the first three series, but only in a very rough way, but they're definitly worth reading.

You could probably get a decent copy over the internet from any of the major video stores (british ones shouyld almost definately have them)